Building Work Pack

Use this letter to request an estimate or a quotation from a builder for undertaking building work. An estimate is an educated guess at what a job may cost, whilst a quotation is a fixed price for the work completed. You may find that a builder is more likely to give you an estimate than a quotation - this document includes guidance about how you might convert an estimate into a quotation. There is also information about how to assess whether the estimate/quotation you have been given is a good price for the work involved.

This document is a contract for a contractor to carry out small-scale building work to a residential property. It is intended for use by the owner of the property or the contractor. It should only be used where the owner lives in (or intends to live in) the property as a residence. It is not suitable for:

• construction of a new house or flat
  
• construction where the services of an architect or engineer are being used
  
• building work done in the course or furtherance of a business or to a building used for commercial purposes
  
• property occupied by tenants or licensees
  
• properties owned by businesses or by more than 4 individuals
  

If you have agreed a date for completion of building works, or been given an indication of a date, and the work has not been completed by your builder, you can use this document to create a complaint letter. This document can also be used if you have not been given an indication of a completion date, but a reasonable period has passed without the work being completed. The letter makes time an essence of the contract, meaning that if your builder does not complete the work by the time specified, you can terminate the contract.

Use this document after you have sent our 'Request faulty building work to be fixed' and 'Letter enclosing estimates to complete building work' and your new builder has completed the outstanding work. If the cost of employing your new builder is more than what you have paid your original builder, the letter will demand payment of that sum. If the cost of having the new builder complete the work is less then the amount which you have paid the original builder, the letter will not demand any money from your builder, but will state that your contract has come to an end. If you are a consumer and your contract was made after 1 October 2015, this letter will include your claims under the Consumer Rights Act.

Use this document after you have sent our ‘Letter enclosing estimates to complete building work’ and your new builder has completed the outstanding work. If the cost of employing your new builder is more than what you have paid your original builder, the letter will demand payment of that sum. If the cost of having the new builder complete the work is less then the amount which you have paid the original builder, the letter will not demand any money from your builder, but will state that your contract has come to an end.

If you have terminated your builder's contract using our ‘Letter terminating contract for failure to complete outstanding building work’, you can then use this letter to enclose the estimates you have received from a new builder to complete the work left outstanding by your original builder. Your builder might respond by offering to complete the work, by challenging the reasonableness of the estimates or by offering to settle your claim. If you do employ a new builder to complete the work, you can then use our "Demand original builder pay costs of new builder" letter.

You can use this letter if you have sent the letter 'Request faulty building works to be fixed' and the matter hasn't been resolved. With this letter, you can send the builder copies of estimates that you have got from other builders for the cost of the necessary remedial works; confirm which of these estimates you have accepted; and reserve your rights to look to the original builder to recover the extra costs that you may incur in rectifying the problems. This letter is suitable for consumers or businesses.

Use this letter to terminate the contract with your builder and to advise him/her that you will be employing another builder to complete the work. Before using this document, you should have sent our "Complaint about delays in builder work" letter in which you gave a final date of when building work must be completed. After sending this letter, you can use our "Letter enclosing estimates from new builder" when you obtain estimates from prospective new builders to complete the work outstanding.

If you have instructed a builder to carry out work for you, and the final invoice has exceeded the quotation or estimate, you can use this letter to reject your builder's bill. An estimate may be slightly higher or lower than the final charge made – a quotation should be exact, irrespective of whether the builder has done more or less work. If you did not agree a quote or estimate before beginning building work, and the builder's bill was unreasonable for the work involved, you can use this document as well.

If you or your builders need to go on to your neighbour's land to carry out necessary repair works on your property, you can use this letter to request access. If your neighbour refuses consent, you might be able to obtain a county court order allowing you such access as long as the work is considered to be 'reasonably necessary' for the preservation of your property. It is important, however, that you first send a written request for consent directly to your neighbour. Please note that this document can only be used in England & Wales and cannot be used for any work relating to a party wall.

If you have employed a builder whose work was faulty or who used materials which did not conform to the contract, use this letter to ask them to fix the faults free of charge. It warns that if they don't fix the work, you will employ another builder and recover the costs and/or reject the non-conforming goods.
This letter is suitable for use by a business or consumer. If you are a consumer and the contract was made after 1 October 2015, this letter includes your claim under the Consumer Rights Act to have the builder re-do the work and/or repair or replace the faulty materials. It warns that if the builder does not take such action, you will claim a price reduction and/or damages.
Note that in some situations (e.g if the faults are serious or dangerous and you can't risk further faulty work), it might be reasonable to skip this letter and move straight to the step of asking a new builder to fix the work and ask the original builder to pay the costs of a new builder.